Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Living in a town to which "The Reader," "The Wrestler," or even "Milk" have not yet arrived, I recently found myself, encouraged by friends and by the casting of Will Smith, at a movie I might otherwise have missed. Despite murmurings of a "twist," I found it very predictable (the movie, after all, opens with Smith telling you what his plans are, and then unfolds quite clearly with his guilt in flashbacks, and, in others, with cancer, and renal failure, and heart trouble, and blindness) and so I was more than a little shocked to hear so much sniffling around me. Sure, as guest Nancy Merchand stated in an episode of TV's Homicide: Life on the Street (and I may be paraphrasing) "A rare gesture in an uncivilized world," but do people not even consider what anti-gift the impact of suicide has on those around them? And when a man gives his heart to a woman, isn't the romance lost when this is concretized? To kiss becomes cruel.Shylock demands his pound of flesh, but Smith's character seems to believe seven pounds are required for recompense of seven deaths. While some have said this film is about the search for redemption, I agree with Rafer Guzman that the film is morally confused. Each has the right to seek his own path, but guilt, grief, and depression all demand treatment, not idealization. Director Gabriele Muccino and writer Grant Nieporte missed the boat on this one. And did others miss that the brother accused Smith of taking something from him, or that Smith had made money as an aeronautics engineer? I, too, may have missed the boat on this movie, or, at least, wished I missed the boat to the movie theater.

Welcome!

Welcome to "Contemporary Psychoanalytic Musings," the blog of the Tampa Bay Institute for Psychoanalytic Studiesor, as it is conveniently known, T-BIPS. We invite you to post your comments on psychoanalysis and books, film, conferences, the media, art, theory, clinical situations, current controversies, social issues, and anything else as seen through a psychoanalytic lens. We look forward to a spirited dialogue with you.Lycia Alexander-Guerra, M.D.TBIPS PresidentGabcast! Welcome! #3

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About TBIPS

In 2005 a group of psychoanalysts & psychoanalytic psychotherapists convened to explore possibilities for meeting the educational needs of clinical professionals in the Tampa Bay area. Out of those discussions evolved a new institute, the Tampa Bay Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies. Consistent with the spirit of collegiality, openness, and diversity that inspired its development, the new Institute is non-authoritarian and democratic. Training programs utilize progressive and classical concepts which have been endorsed by contemporary critiques of psychoanalytic education. Believing that the capacity to think psychoanalytically best develops in an atmosphere of inquiry, open dialogue, and active participation the founding members sought to integrate these values into the structure of the new Institute and into the process of training. A precedent of collaboration and mutual respect for the contributions of all faculty and candidates was established enabling our mission to gain immediate representation in our actions.